Pac-12 Football odds and picks: the Gamble-Tron, Week Eight

Well that was a fun week, wasn’t it??!! The hometown team gets its teeth kicked in and the Gamble-Tron suffers a couple debilitating setbacks, locking up the biggest money loss of the season. The good news is that it can’t get any worse, can it? CAN IT? Of course it can. After all, there’s a reason those casinos are so big and bright.

So now it’s on to week eight, and it might as well be week one, given the fact that the entire college football world seemed to hit the “reset” button last weekend. Well, my score app says it did. I saw all of five minutes of college football last Saturday. After watching WSU quit in Berkeley, I was in no mood to watch anything on Saturday. I was so sick of football that I opted to deal with thousands of people at Disney World instead. Have I ever mentioned that I dislike most people? Dire straits indeed.

Why I’m a genius: Here’s what I said about the WSU game last week, “I haven’t seen a WSU opponent with this much internal strife since, well, the Holiday Bowl.” Second verse, same as the first. Still don’t know why Stanford wasn’t favored by at least two touchdowns. Even more obvious was Alabama coming off a close (for them) win.

Why I’m an idiot: USC still isn’t very good. I knew that and went the other way anyway. Doofus. Colorado is a lot worse than I thought, so of course they’ll probably look a lot better this week. Bruins, there you are! I stupidly thought they could score with Arizona. Nope! On the other hand, if auto-picking UW is all it takes to get them to lose, I’ll pick them for the next 100 years.

One special note for Auburn - They magically turned a 20-0 lead into a 27-23 loss. Hoo-freaking-ray.

Last Week: 5-6

Season Total: 37-32-2

Cash Balance: $400

Oregon (+6.5/-110) at UCLA (-6.5/-110): Do I have to pick this game? Really? Nobody wants to watch this game, let alone predict how it will end. Oregon is going with Braxton Burmeister again, and they’re banged up on the offensive line. It’s enough to make one think that UCLA might look competent on defense. Ahhhhh, who am I kidding? I’m stupidly taking Rosen anyway.

The Pick: $110 on UCLA

Arizona (-3/-110) at Cal (+3/-110): The Bears aren’t nearly as good as they looked last week. They got every bounce, and were aided by a team that played its worst game of the year. This opened as a PK and shifted quickly toward Arizona. I’m officially aboard the Khalil Tate train.

The Pick: $110 on Arizona

USC (+3.5/-110) at Notre Dame (-3.5/-110): Time for USC’s bi-annual trip to the home of Touchdown Jesus. The only thing I know about Notre Dame is that they have a really good rushing attack. I know a fair amount about USC, but not enough to think Notre Dame will win this game by more than a field goal. Plus, my heart wants USC to win. We all know what happens when you go with your heart. Oh well.

The Pick: $110 on Traveler

ASU (+9.5/-110) at Utah (-9.5/-110): Boy, not a lot of respect for the Sun Devils, what with their having beaten the prohibitive Pac-12 favorite last Saturday. Utah had a chance to beat USC, and probably should have, but they’re Utah so they lost. Utah is pretty good at beating the teams they’re supposed to, and ASU doesn’t get the luxury of another bye.

The Pick: $220 on Utah

Colorado (+10.5/-110) at WSU (-10.5/-110): Yeah, if you think for one second that I’m gonna lay double digits after what we saw last week, coupled with the Tavares Martin suspension, you’re out of your ever-loving mind. On the other hand, Colorado needed a last-second rally to beat OSU. Here’s the rub: Colorado is better at quarterback, receiver and running back than Cal. That...isn’t good.

The Pick: $110 on Colorado

Iowa State (-6.5/-110) at Texas Tech (+6.5/-110): Iowa State has been playing above its head lately. Texas Tech is a bit better than advertised, despite the fact they suffered a Morgantown meltdown last Saturday. Good bounce back spot for the Red Raiders here.

The Pick: $110 on Texas Tech

Auburn (-13.5/-110) at Arkansas (+13.5/-110): I stuck with Alabama lsat week, and it paid off. Doing the same this week with the Tigers. Don’t let me down, Gus.

The Pick: $220 on War Eagle

Tennessee (+35/-110) at Alabama (-35/-110): I’m not about to go against the Crimson Tide tsunami at home, against Tennessee. Butch’s boys may be champions of life, but they suck at sports.

The Pick: $110 on Alabama

Time now to shamelessly steal picks that Tom Fornelli makes, and with which the Gamble-Tron agrees.

UCF (-7/-110) at Navy (+7/-110): As with just about everything else in my life, I’m way late to the UCF bandwagon. Hopefully I’m not too late.

The Pick: $220 on the Knights

Purdue at Rutgers (over/under 47.5/-110): Purdue can kind of score. Rutgers can score a lot, as long as the opponent is Illinois. The opponent is not Illinois.

The Pick: $110 on Under 47.5

Go Cougs (but only by 10!)